i love God. have you figured that out yet?

i love that He is a storyteller. because i love a good story.

i love that He keeps telling the same stories over and over and over in so many different ways. because He knows that i need repetition. and help. and chai lattes.

and i love how ALL of us love His stories. even when some of us don’t realize that He is telling them.

case in point... (and i bet that EVERY GREAT and even the not-so-great christian bloggers have jumped on this one) but i will join in on the not-so-great side with the fact that ANYONE with a television and a soul was GLUED to the rescue of the chilean miners this week.

several tweeters tweeted ALL DAY AND NIGHT with updates every half hour or so.

i cried every time i saw or read that another miner was out.

because God was telling a story.

the story He tells best. and often. the story of RESCUE...

let me tell you the story that i saw play out over and over on the television. just in case you had a life and weren’t watching it 24/7...

33 miners trapped in a dark place. a confined space. a dangerous place. they could improve that place. they could measure out their food. they could exercise. they could “live”. but we wouldn’t call it “living”. we called it “trapped in a mine”. “waiting to be rescued”. “must get them out”.

they couldn’t figure out a way out of that mine on their own. they didn’t have that kind of knowledge. power. strength. now they could only improve what went on in the mine. get along nicely with each other. sing songs. ration out food. read letters from above. they could “use their time wisely”. they prayed a lot. they prayed for rescue.

then here comes a strange contraption into their midst. it looked like more confinement. in a smaller place. dang, that rescue capsule looked suffocating. but they trusted it. they got in. really, this is what you want me to do? trust in THIS? and they all did. one after another, trusting in something they couldn’t really see on a path that was dark and winding... through the rocks and hard places they traveled wrapped in safety. pulled along by hands they couldn’t see. something bigger than they were. another force at work.

one by one they were rescued. they came to a spacious place. not through anything they had done. not through all that nice rationing of food in the mine. that didn’t rescue them. it kept them alive IN THE MINE. but the point wasn’t to continue to live IN THE MINE. the point was to LIVE life in a spacious place. in freedom.

psalm 18:19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

and i loved this comment that i heard on the news, “they went in as miners and they came out as celebrities”.

because God tells a story about RESCUE and then He likes to follow that up with a story of TRANSFORMATION.

2 Corinthians 3:18

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

transformation through the rescue. because i know what that feels like. because i came into this world as a mere human and after my rescue i come out as a child of the King. dark place. rescue. transformation. life to the fullest.

the news outlets couldn’t stop themselves from writing the story of the gospel over and over in the headlines...

“chilean miners taste freedom”. it tastes good doesn’t it my brothers of rescue?

“freed in a flawless rescue”. oh, He is flawless indeed my Rescuer.

“miners emerge to rejoicing and singing”. celebrations continue everywhere to this very day.

“rescue complete”. praise God that it was finished long ago.

“the future of the mine is in question”. ummm, i think i might know what happens to that mine in the end...

what a great story. no wonder we all watched. and cried.

some because we know what it feels like. and we look at the joy on those rescued miners faces and we know exactly how that feels.

some because they yearn to be rescued and don’t know to step into His arms.... yet. that contraption doesn’t look quite right to them. it isn’t modern enough. not proven by science. not attractive. they were hurt by something that looked like that once. it looks worse than where they are. but it is rescue. it is freedom. peace. joy. and a million other things that are Good.

and there are those who love their mine. it is all they know. it is home. cramped. but they have food. they have order. they like it there. they have a faint sense that there might be beauty, light, life somewhere far far away. but they can’t quite grasp that it is meant for them. it is just something they dream about at night and then can’t quite reason out during the day light hours spent still in the dark. organizing and perfecting their little world in the mine shaft. making the mine as “liveable” as they can. all the time defending the greatness of mine life. because it is their choice. to ignore the rescue so close at hand. right there. waiting. calling. opening the door to freedom. but don’t mention it to them. wouldn’t be politically correct to point out that rescue to anyone.

the rocks will cry out the Truth. and sometimes so will our televisions sets. and cnn online.

witting.lea

Romans 7:24-25

What a wretched man I am!

Who will rescue me

from this body of death?

Thanks be to God-

through Jesus Christ our Lord!